The Well and the Mine

Gin Phillips

Apr 2009 · Penguin Random House Audio · Narrated by T.J. Kenneally and Margaret Nichols

About this audiobook

In 1931 Carbon Hill, a small Alabama coal-mining town, nine-year-old Tess Moore watches a woman shove the cover off the family well and toss in a baby without a word. For the Moore family, focused on helping anyone in need during the Great Depression, the apparent murder forces them to face the darker side of their community and question the motivations of family and friends. Backbreaking work keeps most of the townspeople busy from dawn to dusk, and racial tensions abound. For parents, it's a time when a better life for the children means sacrificing health, time, and every penny that can be saved. For a miner, returning home after work is a possibility, not a certainty. However, next to daily thoughts of death, exhausting work, and race are the lingering pleasures of sweet tea, feather beds, and lightning bugs yet to be caught.

About the author

Gin Phillips is a freelance writer whose features have appeared in American Profile, American Spirit, Platinum, and Woman’s World. She lives in Birmingham, Alabama. The Well and the Mine is her first novel.